I want to ask you guys first before I call Celestron. I bought a Celestron AVX about a month ago, so far everything was great. Since last Friday, I feel like im having couple issues with this mount.

1. It's so shaky. Its never been this shaky before on this mount. I always balance my scope on my mount before observing. Once I go over 100x, it's very shaky. It looks worse than when I had CG4. My scope only weights 16 pounds. Meade 2" star diagonal and high power eyepieces I own do not weight more than 2 pounds. I'm pretty sure I'm not pushing its weight capacity for visual observing. I only need 1 counter weight that came with the mount which is located in near center of a shaft.

2. It's gotten louder. The mount is LOUD. I don't remember it being this loud.

Are you certain you are balanced? On my AVX, both the RA and DEC axis are quite stiff, but more so the DEC. I had to find the balance point of my OTA "off the mount" in order to get balanced in DEC. Are both motors LOUD or just one?

Also, are you using the tripod that came with the mount? Are you using it at it tallest position, legs fully extended? If so, have you tried it at it's shortest position, legs fully retracted, to see if the vibrations are less pronounced? -Tim

Are you sure that the vibration at high magnification isn't due to atmospheric turbulence? I know that my C6 SCT is quite prone to this when I push the magnification on nights with less stable atmospheric conditions. Once I get north of 200X it becomes much more apparent.

Check for a very secure, tight fit of AVX to the tripod; very secure tight fit of OTA in the saddle; both the DEC and RA clutch knobs secure and tight; good balance in both axis.

If you are not touching the mount while viewing at high power is the image fairly steady? If so, then when you touch the scope to focus does the image jump all around?.....that's likely due to the the size/length of your OTA on that mount. -Tim

It vibrates when I'm observing with high a eyepiece while it's tracking. Touching anywhere on my scope will vibrate the view

There are a number of different kinds of shaky with a number of different causes.

The most common sources are: (1) mount head is not firmly screwed onto the tripod junction, (2) bolts holding tripod legs to tripod junction have gotten loose, (3) spreader is not firmly clamped against the legs, (4) azimuth adjustment bolts not tight against "N" post, (5) OTA not properly balanced, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. It's highly unlikely to be a mount issue if it wasn't shaky earlier and is shaky now. Almost certainly a set-up issue, which is good news.

It got loose some how, I hope that will fix the problem. One other thing about declination motor is that, it is quiet, but there is a spot when it rotates noise changes, it gets loud. I recorded, I will post it on YouTube shortly.

Bravo! I bet that snugs it up and quells your shaking. Been there, done that.

As for the noise in a particular range of travel, that might be when the load changes sides (i.e., crossing the Dec axis balance point). Be sure to check your balance in both RA and Dec axes with the scope set up as you'd use it (finder, diagonal and eyepiece installed).

I wouldn't take it apart just yet. Just loosen the clutches and spin each axis completely around a couple dozen times in both directions, see if that helps[take scope and cwt off first]. Plus make sure the black collar on the cwt shaft is not rubbing against the DEC housing. Make certain the black collar is screwed onto the cwt shaft as far as it will go or else it can bind against the dec housing and cause drag. This may be why you DEC motor sounds like it's working harder in certain spots in your video. -Tim

What kind of lube should I use? Lithium or Silicone? I'm scared to take these apart

Forget the lube business. That will not help, and these mounts work best with very little lubrication, anyway. The "loud" is because of the motor housings and will be worse in cold weather and with a low battery.

Overall, it sounds pretty normal to me for a mount in this class. One thing to make sure of is that you are not applying too much pressure to the clutch. If you crank down too hard on the clutch you will slightly deform the ring gear as well as push the head off center a bit. This will cause the worm to be tight in some areas and loose in others which will in turn make the mount more noisy in some areas than others. Clutch tightness on a well-balanced mount should be just enough to keep the axis from slipping when lightly bumped and that's all.